Here are some basic thoughts on attacking a zone defense. A veteran coach likely will not learn anything new from reading this, although perhaps reading a slightly different perspective could be somewhat helpful. But this article is mostly intended for aspiring coaches and coaches who are relatively new to the profession.
1. The best way to attack a zone is in transition before it sets up.
Often times, basic basketball is winning basketball, and there’s nothing more basic than running the court hard in transition. By holding your team accountable for sprinting the floor (and outletting/inbounding the ball quickly), you will get points in the paint in transition as well as clean looks from 3 and increased offensive rebounding opportunities. Also, falling into a passive mentality versus a zone plagues many teams, and attacking in transition promotes a mentality of aggression- way too many teams play against a zone on their heels.
2. While ball movement is important against the zone, people movement is at least equally important.
Sedentary people allow a zone to match up and prevent a zone from becoming confused. This principle is equally applicable to all zones, including extended zones and trapping zones. Way too many teams line up in a 2-1-2 or a 1-3-1 set and basically stand around passively until eventually settling for a contested 3- as a worst-case scenario, basket cuts through a zone will allow easier ball reversals, which will cut turnovers and create slightly less contested 3’s.
3. Ballscreens can create 2 on 1 situations, and ballscreens are best if they come blindly from the baseline of the zone.
Too often, ball screens versus a zone come from an angle where the zone defender to be screened can see the screen coming. By setting screens from blind angles, you force the defense to communicate, which necessarily increases the likelihood of a defensive breakdown. Also, by setting ballscreens blindly against the zone, you create the potential that the baseline zone defenders will find themselves out of position, thus opening up opportunities to run cutters into the now vacated areas. For example, out of an overload set, if you set a ballscreen blindly from the baseline side as the ball gets reversed, who covers the baseline runner?
4. 1-4 high, 1-4 low, and stack looks (low and high) distort and confuse zone defenses.
Against these sets, zone defenses will often leave at least 1 defender in no man’s land, guarding no one. Additionally, these sets can create numbers advantages for “picket fence” type quick hitters.
5. Bob Knight once pointed out that against a zone, the other coach might get to decide where his players will defend, but you get to decide who his players will defend.
When you face zone defenses, keep Coach Knight’s advice in mind- perimeter scorers in the high post and short corner present matchup problems for many post defenders.
6. Backside pin screening for 3-point shooters is a very tough thing for zones to defend.
Not only does this strategy create some clean looks from 3, but the screener will often be wide open as the defense begins to overreact to the weakside shooter.
7. You can set illegal screens against zone defenses all day, as long as you do it with your backside and your elbows.
This strategy is especially effective for internal screens in the paint area- specifically, “sealing” X5 should be a constant priority (“sealing” in this case means “setting a completely illegal screen in a manner the referees won’t call”).
8. Smash cuts are highly effective against zone defenses.
Similar to the “pick route” in football, if you make an illegal screen look like a hard cut, it actually tends to look like the defense is fouling you.
9. Backside bigs should be taught to seal up and out.
Backside bigs mustn’t allow rotating help defenders to get where they’re trying to go; instead, they should clear space and look for backside post up opportunities. For example, versus a 1-3-1, weakside bigs should get 5+ backside post touches per game by catching the wing defender trying to drop. By “crabbing out” a dropping defender, the weakside big not only presents a quality target, but creates a rebounding advantage as well.
10. Backscreens followed by slipping toward the ball/rim are difficult to defend, especially if they’re coupled with a smash cut.
As the cutter receives the backscreen and begins to cut to the ball/rim, the next defender will react to the cutter, which often creates an open area for the screener to fill. And if the cutter executes a smash cut to take the next defender out of the play, then the open area for the screener to fill becomes even more open.
11. Fake a pass to make a pass.
The best zone defenses are taught to anticipate by reading the opponent’s eyes and body positioning/movements. Ball fakes disrupt a great zone team’s ability to anticipate, which cuts your turnovers and creates less contested shots.
12. Offensive rebounding kills a zone.
Possibly because of less accountability compared with man defense, most zone defenses do a poor job of blocking out. If your team has disciplined rebounding habits, you can hurt zones with second chance points- not just stick backs but kick outs to shooters as well (offensive rebound kickout 3’s demoralize opponents).
Thanks very much for reading, and thanks to Coach Raveling for providing this forum to share.
